Pirated HD Version of '50 Shades' Hit BitTorrent, with a Catch

Pirates eager to watch '50 Shades' in the comfort of their own homes now have a high def, high quality way to do it - but they probably won't want to!

Image/Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

Pirates eager to get their hands on '50 Shades of Grey' will have been delighted with the release of this week of a high quality HD pirated copy of the film. But not all is what is seems.

This latest download contains has Chinese subtitles as it had been ripped from Chinese streaming site QQ.com, which has deals with major Hollywood studios to get early access to films. While the quality of the HD download is unquestionably good, at least for a film that's yet to be released on Blu-ray, it's the content, or rather what's missing, that has disappointed downloaders.

Chinese censors are rather harsh when it comes to content that's deemed morally objectionable, and so it's no surprise that the official Chinese version of '50 Shades of Grey' would not be the same version that cinema-goers get to see in other countries. The censored version removes all nudity and sex scenes, which despite the film's controversy, only consists of 4 to 6 minutes of deleted footage.

Still, it is this missing 4 to 6 minutes that many are probably most eager to see, and for a film that's already been called tame by readers of the book (that is, the full uncensored version), the censored (pirated) version is set to disappoint even more fans.